If the Flyers are one of the hottest teams in the NHL, then the Sabres are easily one of the coldest going right now.
The two teams square off for a 7 p.m. puck drop from the KeyBank Center tonight on NBC Sports Philadelphia in the Philly area and MSG-B in the New York market.
Philadelphia has won seven of their last eight games, including a 2-1 win over these same Sabres last Thursday. The Sabres, meanwhile, have lost four of their past five and sit in the basement of the Eastern Conference.
The Flyers dispatched the Red Wings, 4-3, in a back-and-forth game on Wednesday that saw a bunch of lead changes. It was a Sean Couturier third-period goal that ended up as the game-winner for the good guys. Claude Giroux stayed hot, racking up three helpers in the game and Robert Hagg’s first NHL goal provided a great moment for the rookie defenseman.
While there is top-end talent on the Sabres’ roster with the likes of Jack Eichel and Evander Kane among others, the results on the ice have not been there for this team in recent seasons. One of the areas they’ve struggled has been on the power play, where the Sabres rank 30th overall. They do have the league’s 8th-best penalty kill, and will lean on that against a hot Flyers power play.
Between the pipes the Flyers will likely again roll with Brian Elliott, who has been fantastic over his last ten starts while his backup Michal Neuvirth remains sidelined due to injury. Elliott has a 2.67 goals-against average to go along with a .912 save percentage so far this season.
Buffalo has leaned on Robin Lehner in net, and he’s posted a 2.76 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage in 26 games this season but has just seven wins to show for it.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Forwards
Giroux – Couturier – Simmonds
Raffl – Filppula – Voracek
Weal – Patrick – Weise
Leier – Laughton – Konecny
Defense
Provorov – MacDonald
Hagg – Gostisbehere
Sanheim – Gudas
Goalie
Elliott
(Lyon)
